Spike or nail.



Y a citizen of the United Adent of Hinton, in the county of Rocking- UNiTED STATES PATENT onirica.'4

CHARLES E. MARTIN, OF HINTON, VIRGINIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRD '10 GEOQEP.

FRITZE AND ONE-THIRD T0 CHARLES R. COLE, BOTH 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.y I

SPIKE on. NAIL. .f1

Patented Mar. 9, 1915.

Application filed April 16, 1914. i Serial No. 852,337.

T0 all whom it may Concern Be it known that I, CHARLES E. MAirrin,

States, and a resiham and State of 'certain new and useful Spikes onNails; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in spikes or nails and consists of the matters hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

The object of the invention is to provide a spike or nailwhich may be driven into a Virginia, have invented Improvements 1n block or piece of wood without tearing or splintering the fibers, which lwill eut, rather than break its way through the fibers of the wood to its final' seat and which, when driven home, will be firmly locked against withdrawal.

` AA spike or nail made in accordance with my invention is especially advantageous for use where the greater strain on it is exerted in a direction to withdraw it as, for exampleyi-n the case of a railroad spike, where the waving, vertical vibrator-y movement of the rails whena tra-in passes over the track exerts an enormous `force tending to pull the spikes from the ties.

'lhe many advantages of my invention will appear as I proceed with my specification.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective view of' a nail embodying the novel features of my invention. Fig. 2 is an elevation on an enlarged scale of the part of the nail at or near the point. Fig. 3 is an elevation of the same part of the nail shown in Fig. 2, the plano of the elevation being at right angles to that of the view shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 4- is a view representing a transverse section through Fig. 2 in a plane indicated by the line 4 4 of Fig. 2, with the nail shown as it appears when the point is first entering the block orpiece of wood into which it is driven. Fig. 5 is a similar section showing the nail as it appears with ref` eienee to the fibers of the piece or block into which it is driven when it has finally been driven home. Fig. G is a view representing a transverse section through Fig. 2 in a mOIe OI` edges. illustrate the preferred `rconstruction, Y the ting plane indicated by the line fitihereiifi Fig. T isa vertical section through Fig. a plane indicated by the line 7;-7 thereof..

I have shown my invention in the accompanying drawings embodied 'in a wire nail,

as being the simplestexample for illustrating its application. It is to be understood, however, that the invention may b'e'embodied in anyform of nail or spiket'liat is to be drivenj and which is made of any s'uitable or desied material.I ,v i

Referring new moreparticularly AtoI the drawings,"l0 indieatesthe shank of a wire nail, and'11, its' head. 'i The ,shank v10v is made of the usualnround'ed and prefer@ ably with a smoothsn'r'fa'cey tliijoii'glioutfats length. I provide the shank 1Q of";the'niiil with `spiral `wing blades 12, 1?,` gwhielrare disposed radially,`and in substantially the saine diametric plane on opposite sides of the said shank. The spiral wing blades 12, 13 are wide lat the -topfand diminish'fin width toward the point-end oftheifaikliav-` ing edges 12, 13a rwhich are `ii'ielined toward' the point-end of: the nail, and whielnvare less sharpened to eonstitutevctrtting As shown in the drawings wlieh wing blades are placedopposite each other at the point-end ofthe nail', and theirgeu'tedges 12a, 13 merge together togpr''rf videl the nail-point '14 which is adapted to penetrate the wood into which the nail is to be driven.

12b, 13h indicate the top edges of the wing blades 12 and 13. Said top edges are made fiat or blunt, as shown in Fig. 7, and the opposite faces of the wing blades taper from said top edges toward their respective cutting edges 12, 13a.

In driving my improved nail or spike, it is placed with its point 14 against the snrface of the piece or block of wood into which it is to be driven and with the spiral wing blades 12 and 13 arranged substantially parallel to the wood fibers. Thus the wing blades, when driven into the wood, tend to split the Wood fibers apart to permit the entrance of the'blades somewhat in the manner of a wedge, instead of splintering or breaking said fibers. As the nail is driven home, the spiral form of the wing blades 12, 13, causes the nail shank to rotate through a small angle so that said blades will assume a transverse position with reference to the wood bers instead of the parallel position in which they started.

The wing blades 12 and 13 are twisted to such an extent that when the nail is driven home, that is to say, is driven a distance substantially equal to its length, said Wing blades will cause the nail to turn throng about a quarter of a revolution 'so that said blades will stand in a position substantially at'rightangles to the wood bers (see Fig. 5). In reachin this position, thev cutting edges 12, 13 o the wing blades'12', 13 c ut their -way through the wood bers, so that the point of the nail reaches its nal position without materially splintering or distorting the wood bers.

lVhen the nail has been driven home, the top edges 12", 13b of the win blades, standy ing transversely of the woo bers, as they do, and being ilat or blunt as heretofore described, resist any e'ort to withdraw the 'nail and thus securely anchor the same in the wood in the same manner aswould a rivet head where a nail'is driven throu h a piece of wood and then riveted upon t e op osite side.

anifestly, the win blades 12 and 13 need not be placedat t. e point'of the nail or spike, but the arrangement.atl the oint of the nail or spike, as shown inthe rawthe head 11 will completely coverthe o en^ ing between the wood bers producedp the wings in entering the wood. Said head thus acts to protect said opening from the entrance of moisture which would otherwise rust the spike or nail.

which is provi ed posed spiral b1 yondA said Slm, or less sharpened edges which converge toward and meet each other to form a driving point, said blades being llat or blunt at the top, the other end of The advantages of m improvement and its applicability tol nais and spikes used for various pur oses where the nail or spike is to be secure y anchored in order to elliciently perform its intended function will be manifest to those familiar with the art.

I claim as my invention 1. A spike comprising a shank, one end of which,is provided with diametricall opposed spiral blades projectin laterally beyond sald shank, said blades ened ed each ot er toform a` blades being at or blunt at the top, the other end of the shank being formed to provide ahead.

n aving sharpwhlch couver e toward and meet rivmg point, said 2. A sp1ke comprising a shank, one end of with diametricall opdes projecting laterallyy besaid blades having more said shank being ings, is preferred, as when placed in this'jormed to provide a head, of a 'diameter way, they facilitate the entrance of the oint ,y of the nail or spike between the wood l bers f to eliminate the s lintering or breaking of said. bers when t ters the wood.` /1 The nail or spike head 11 is prefera ly made of a diameter such that it will roject beyond the plane of they two wing blades 12, 13, as clear y shown in Fi 4 and 5'. Thus when the nail or spike is rive home;

dgreale blades.

e spike or nail rst enj as my invention I ax my si presence of two Apil A. D. 1914.

r than the combined width of said In testimony that I claim the foregoing 0 ature in the witnesses, this 10th day of p CHARLES E. MARTIN. Wltnesses: CLARENCE E. MEBLHOPE,

T. H. ALFREDs. I 

